Refrigerator shelf



July 2, 1946.

l R. s. AHRl-:Ns ETAL REFRIGERATOR SHELF Filed June l5, 1944 ZJMMS.

Patented July-2, 1.946

lrREFRIGEItA'roR SHELF nobel-t s'. Ahrens and walter A. Ellsworth,

St. Paul, Minn., assignors toy Seeger Refrig-I erator Company, St. Paul, Minn., a corpora,

tion of Minnesota Appliation June 15, 1944, serial No. 540,463

1 Our invention'relates to an improvement in refrigerator shelf wherein it is desired to provide in a refrigerator a shelf embodying a rotatable portion. e

Various attempts have been -made to make the contents of a refrigerator more readily accessible. In order to obtain the maximum use of the stor- 2 Claims. (Ci.- 211-135) age space within a refrigerator, the shelves of the same are ordinarily placed relatively close together. As a result, while objects near the front of the shelves are readily accessible, it is difcult to remove other objects located at the back of .the shelves. To obviate this inconvenience, shelves have been slidably mounted so as to make all of the articles placed thereon easily accessible.'

Certain structural difficulties are involved in such a construction and the cost of the mounting of the shelves is increased. Further-more,` the movement of the shelves in a reciprocatory manner has a tendency to upset any upright articles resting thereupon.

A feature of the present invention lies in the provision of a refrigerator shelf having formed placed upon the shelf may be conveniently removed therefrom when it is so desired.

A feature of the present invention lies in 'the `provision of a rotatable shelf portion which may be suitable for supporting various materials which may be used in sandwiches or in light lunches.

Accordingly if it is desired to obtain a between meals lunch, many of the ingredients therefor may be obtained by merely vrotating the rotatable shelf portion and removing the desired products.

may be removed in its entirety. As a result the shelf portion may be used. as a tray for carrying a group of vmaterials from the refrigerator when itis desired to do so. For example, a plurality of salads, desserts, or the like could be removed simultaneously with the rotatable shelf portion and this circular portion would serve as a tray for the products removed. l

'I'hese and other objects and novel features of our invention will be more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification and claims.

In the drawing forming a part of our specification:

A further feature of the present invention re sides in the fact that the rotatable shelf portion" 2 Figure 1 is aperspective view of a refrigerator shelf in position within a refrigerator.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of a shelf embodying our` invention.

Figure 3 is a sectional view showing the connection between the shelf and its rotatable portion.`

Figure 1 of the drawing illustrates a shelf A mounted within a refrigerator B and having embodied therein a rotatable shelf portion C. The

shelf A may be of any desired shape to fit within the refrigerator body B, and the body B may be of any suitable type.

In Figure 2 of the drawing we disclose a shelf D which is similar to the shelf A, with the excep-y tion of the position of the rotatable shelf portion C, and the resulting re-arrangement of the shelf perforations. W'hile the shelf C is possessed of certain advantages in that the rotatable shelf occupies but one end of the supporting shelf and therefore permits irlore material to be grouped upon the supporting shelf. The shelf D illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawing also has certain advantages. C of the shelf D is usually more easily removable than the rotatable tray of shelf portion C of the shelf A. However, as the shelves A and D are structurally similar, the same identifying numerals have been given to both of these structures.

The shelvesA and D are provided with a substantially flat upper surface I0 having a downwardlyv turned flange ilextending thereabout. A series of perforations i2 are provided in the shelf surface I0 to providev for a free circulationof air through the shelf. These apertures are preferably encircled by a down-turned flange I3, as best illustrated in Figure 3 of the drawing, so as to provide a heater appearance, a smoother upper a substantially flat upper surface i6 having a series of perforations I1 therein. The perforations I1 are likewise preferably provided with an encircling flange IS which reinforces the shelf portion C, provides a smoother upper surface on the shelf portion, and improves the appearance of this element. An upwardly extending bead 2li preferably encircl'es the shelf portion at the mar- As an example. the removable tray` A ginal edge thereof so as to hold articles placed on this shelf portion in proper place. A circular flange 2| extends downwardly from the outer edge of the head2..

Ears 22 may be cut from the body of the shelf portion C and bent downwardly along a line paralle] to the adjacent portion of the flange 2|. i pivot 2l extends through each ear 22 'andthe flange 2| or through an ear integral with thef ange 2| if the flange should terminate above the level of the pivot. A roller 24 is rotatably supported upon the pivot 23 and extends below the level of the flange. 2| and from any ear which may project downwardly therefrom to support the pivot 2l. The ears 22 preferably extend below t'he lower surface of the rollers 24 so as to form a leg for the shelf portion C when this portion is removed from the refrigerator. The ears 22 may also assist in locating the tray with respect to its supporting shelf.

From an examination of Figure 2 of the draw- 'ing it 'will be noted that the removable shelf portion C is provided with a series of angularly spaced ears 22, each of which supports a roller 24. As a result the entire removable shelf portion is mounted on rollers and this shelf portion may readily rotate in its supporting shelf. As a result this tray portion may be rotated so as to position any object thereupon near the forward edge of the supporting shelf.

'I'he shelves illustrated are -shown as stamped of-nat sheet metal or the like. 'I'he same construction, however, may be incorporated in wire shelves. The same, or a similar construction, would apply in each instance. lSuch wires may be assembled in any convenient manner to ac complish the desired result.

From the foregoing description the operation of 4 its rotatable portion freely and permits this rotatable portion to revolve abouta vertical axis.

Thus while the main body of the shelf remains stationary, a portion thereof may be rotated so that access of small articles located near the rear of the shelf may be obtained.

tween said ears andsaid flange means, saidroller means resting upon said inwardly extendingour shelf should 'be obvious. The shelf supports In accordance with the patent statutes, we have described the principles of construction and operation of our refrigerator shelf, and while we have endeavored to set forth the best embodiy ments thereof, ,we desire to have it understood that obvious changes may be made within the scope ofthe foliowingclaims without departing y from the spirit of our invention.

We claim: I 1'. A refrigerator shelf comprising a shelf body, a circular aperture therein, a flange on said shelf body projecting into said aperture, a round ro' tatable shelf portion, a'downwardly extending` flange means on said rotatable shelf portion at the periphery thereof, downwardly projecting ears on said vshelf portion adjacent the flange means,`and roller means rotatably supported bemeans resting upon said inwardly extending flange.

ROBERT S. AHRENS. WALTER A. ELLSWORTH. 

